Saturday, June 30, 2012

So the hot and lazy days of summer are here finally! It's a good time to hunker down and get some things done in my cool basement shop...

Today I have some solid copper dice finished. These are not drilled for bead chain. They are made of grade C147 which is a sulphur copper alloy and it is much harder and more machineable than ordinary pure copper. A great choice for this application. I have given them a super long tumbling session which gave them a beautiful antique patina. Not only do they look nice but they are quite heavy and solid feeling in the hand.

The copper dice are $30 for each single dice plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for stopping in on this fine holiday weekend and hope everyone has a safe 4th of July!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Good afternoon everyone! Hope your week is going well. It's a bit gloomy here this afternoon but at least the temps are comfortable.

So, the party continues. :D Today I have more stonewashed titanium Wrunts finished. I decided to leave these alone and not do any colors because I know there are lots of folks who like them plain. Indeed these would make great user pieces. The grinds are like the first couple of batches and there are even more variations in this group. I was having fun with them... :)

Anyway, these are once again a bit limited in number so it will be a one per customer sale. They run $65 plus shipping and the link is below...thanks for dropping by!

Monday, June 25, 2012

OK, let's see if I have the blogger software figured out and have paragraphs again...I had a setting wrong the last few times and so ended up with run on paragraphs.

Tool Updates: More ti Wrunts (in plain stonewashed) are almost ready to go after these ones below...a few more ti Dice are coming up (with holes) and around the end of the week or weekend I should have solid (no holes) copper dice completed. In addition, I am told that the CPM 3v G5 prybabies (semi Roid) are close to finished at heat treat so those may be back by the weekend or early next week. Now, I can only do one thing at a time, contrary to what my wife thinks, so I'll be getting this stuff done as quickly as I can but it will not come all at once. It's going to take a while to get the batches together and I have to pace myself. However, it promises to be a very busy couple of weeks ahead...very busy indeed!

Soooo, tonight I have a short batch of light UV anodized "Pink Belly" titanium Wrunts with extra grinds available. Same kind of grinds as the earlier bronze anodized Wrunts, very fun stuff and many different configurations. There are just a couple dozen of these so it will be a one per customer sale please...the Pink Bellies run $65 plus shipping and the link is below:

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Hi Everyone! Hope your week is going well...it's quite hot here today and tomorrow so I'm hunkering down and trying to get a little bit of work done indoors.
So today I have the first wave of something new and a little bit different...now, dice have been done before by various makers and even dice beads have been made in the past but to my knowledge these are the first TITANIUM dice beads ever made. These are something that I have wanted to make for a long time and finally things came together in such a way that the project could move forward. Anyway, these are turned and milled from a solid bar and the final size is .46", so they are slightly under 1/2" cubes.
I intentionally kept the bead chain hole as small as possible for several reasons, both for fit of the chain, aesthetics and to affect the weight of the dice as little as possible. Using one end of the hole for the 1 was a no brainer and having it come out on the other side at 6 means that the number is always instantly readable so that worked out very well. And of course, the dots are placed on the dice in the usual way, each opposite side adds up to 7.
Now, these are definitely NOT regulation weight and all that stuff so they are being offered as cool objects and I'm not making any claims as to whether a pro thrower should use them for gambling. But in my own tests at home they seem to throw just fine with no numbers coming up in anything but what appears to be a random fashion. I'm thinking I will make some without holes though in one of the subsequent waves for the purists out there who want to be sure the dice are as fair as I can make them.
Now, even though most dice games involve just two dice, I am going to offer these up SINGLY because there are certain games that call for anywhere from 1-5 dice and I recognize that folks may want varying quantities. So, these dice will be $30 each plus shipping and you may order as many as you like while the limited supply lasts...I also want to mention that I have some bronze and copper bar stock ready to go so those versions will be coming in a week or two as well. Fun stuff ahead!
Green Dice are SOLD OUT! Thank you! I will have more of these and perhaps in other colors, in about a week.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Good Morning and Happy Weekend!
I've had these whistles kicking around the shop for a year or more and just couldn't seem to get around to finishing them. Anyway, I was getting tired of looking at them sitting on the shelf so I decided it's time to finish them up and move them on out. As I was putting them together I decided to try a little experiment and give them a light bead blast and I really like the resulting matte finish, something a little different and they should patina very nicely over time. They are on bead chain. This is a very small batch so it will be one per customer on them please and they will run $45 plus shipping.
SOLD OUT, thank you again folks!
Show here on a background of flat S30v Wrunts... they will be coming up later next week! :)

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Hi Folks,
Well it's been a couple of great days in the shop. I spent quite a bit of time NOT working on tools for a change and instead doing some much needed and long overdue cleanup and organizing. Also some important maintenance stuff that I have been putting off for months. The good news is that I should be able to work a little smarter this summer and be able to keep myself somewhat sane in the process but perhaps that is too much to ask. ;)
Anyway, I did manage to get some stuff underway and keep it moving through the processes. Today I have some more anodized aluminum Longslides done and this time they are in a brand new color. I'm calling this one SuperJuice because it reminds me of a certain well known sports drink...or maybe what happens after you eat a bunch of B vitamins...hehe. At any rate, this color is absolutely electric looking and I have put it on black cord to show off the contrast even more.
The SuperJuice Longslides will be $25 plus shipping and the link is below. As always, thank you so much for stopping by and for your very kind emails and comments both here and on the ToolBook. Much appreciated!
SuperJuice are sold out for now, thank you!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Folks, just a reminder, those finger oils will dull the anodizing on titanium. To revive the vivid colors just spray with Windex or other glass cleaner and then wipe with a soft cloth or towel. It will perk the colors right back up again. Of course, this will not remove scratches, impact marks or brassing from keys but for simple finger oils and dirt this will work wonders.

Thursday, June 07, 2012

Hi Folks,
Whew, it's been so busy here that I'm running around like a chicken with his head cut off. We're getting there though. The 3V Semi Roid Prybabies went to heat treat yesterday finally so that was very good. Couple of weeks and they will be back. Many other things are happening too, it's a very interesting year to say the least!
Tonight I have the4 very first wave of ti Wrunts done. I decided to tweak the design a bit, adding the tiki grind style thumb grooves that some people might remember from my Atwrench series and many of my old edged tools. I also extended the butt end a bit and added chamferred holes for bead chain which will be included with each of these. People have been begging for Area 51 style grinds but I have gone a little nuts on these. There are several dozen different variations I would say in this batch. All sorts of tiki grinds, face grinds, edge grinds, A51 style grinds, many asymetrical grinds, grinds on the front, grinds on the back, grinds grinds grinds grinds grinds. So I hope people like them and all I can say is just go ahead and try to collect them all (he said laughing maniacally to himself). :D
Anyway, this first of many waves are all anodized bronze. I haven't done bronze in a long time and I'm sick of blue, green and UV so time for something different. They are all matte finish and look a lot sharper than my quickie picture would indicate, especially in the sun. I don't too many bronze ones so I'm going to make it one per customer so more folks can get a chance at them...they are $65 plus shipping and the link is below. Thanks for stopping in and for your great patience! :)
Sold Out! Thank you again!

Monday, June 04, 2012

Howdy Folks,
I've been dragging my tail the past few days, not getting too much done...so hopefully I'll find some of that energy I had last week and getting cranking in the shop again as this week goes on. I did manage however to get the rest of the dark OD Green Aluminum Longslides finished up finally and that is what I have done today. These are actually on a variety of cord colors, mostly leopard but some on plain Desert Tan and a few others as well. So not too many on the Killer Bee cord but that's the only picture I had already. These are the usual $25 plus shipping and the link is below...thanks for stopping in tonight!
All gone, thank you again everyone!